Helping Special Needs Kids

I'm going to write a bit this morning about one of the three areas our work Here that is definitely developing.

I had a really wise friend tell us when we first arrived three years ago, "Don't initiate, only respond."  In this she further went on advising that she'd "seen dozens of people come with great ideas, run around initiating projects, and get burned out and forced to return home."  She said that we should always WAIT to see how He was leading, then RESPOND to that leading...but never to get out ahead of Him.

Though I'm typically not a good one at hearing other's advice and following it, by His grace, this time it stuck!  So several times, as we've seen areas we'd "like to work in" we've held back and waited.

Qian Qian and his mother ushered us into a new understanding of part of our work Here.  In fact, that night, on the bridge when we found them,  The Bug whispered to me, "this is WHY we are Here."  (If you are unfamiliar with the story of Qian Qian, see his story beginning in October, named "Humanity pt.s 1-3)

So we've come back from retreat with the direction to write our proposal to a charity group There, asking them to be our partner is fundraising.  We would, with a group of like-minded folks Here in the city,  identify babies/children born with special needs, especially those requiring surgery to correct the issue, and get them the surgery they need so that their parents CAN keep them.

I had a discussion with a dear lady on retreat that reminded me of my own previous misconceptions regarding WHY special needs children are available for adoption Here.  I always gave a simple, broad answer that, "if a baby is born with a visible special need, and perfection is required, the parents do not want to keep that child."  While in some cases that may be true, I am convinced that there is far more to this story.

After gaining a deeper understanding of the "cash upfront" requirements of the medical system Here, it is clear to me that many parents, who WOULD love to keep their child, CANNOT possibly do so because they cannot afford the medical treatment necessary.   It would be not unlike my giving birth to a baby with a correctable special need, the demand being made of a million dollars, UPFRONT, to give my child the surgery needed...and NO SAFETY NETS  (charitable hospitals, children's charities, government assistance, wealthy uncles/neighbors, churches.)  There does not even exist the mandate that requires a hospital to give life-saving treatment to a person admitted who cannot pay (think of the signs posted in your local ER that state they will not refuse treatment.)  These things do not exist Here.   I can simply not imagine the horrific realization that the child I've given birth to needs surgery and I have NO HOPE of ever providing for him/her!

I believe MANY families struggle with this impossible reality, perhaps traveling to the cities for help, or resorting to begging, just as we found Qian Qian and his mother.  This may explain why many children are abandoned at 2-8 months of age...their parents were struggling...TRYING to do anything else.  (And, it is also most important to note that it is against the law to surrender your child for adoption, or to make a private adoption plan as families can do There...a child must be left, untraceable to their parents, before they are taken into care, given the surgery they need, and then listed for adoption.)

So, we have had a group of people beginning to connect Here in our city, with a similar burden for this project.  (In fact, they have already helped 5 babies with surgery before we met!)  To identify children through the local hospitals, and through word of mouth to the village midwives, that if a child is born with a special need, and the parents desire to see their child treated so that they can remain with their family, that we will be eager to provide that necessary surgery.  I think of it as "orphan prevention."

I'm smiling as I type this with the knowledge that Qian Qian is at home even now, his mother and father reunited, along with his elder sisters...his mother's bravery and courage overcame the obstacle...

Please, lift us up as we prepare a proposal for this project, that we would only enter in where He is leading...that we not initiate, only respond!